Abdulhamid Ghanbaran, Meysam Daloe Heydari,
Volume 32, Issue 4 (9-2022)
Abstract
The demand for energy has increased all over the world, and the construction industry makes up a high percentage of energy consumption. Different design components, construction, and exploitation regarding the field of construction energy consumption and the drive towards sustainability have been taken into consideration; however, energy conservation with an emphasis on the user's behaviors has been ignored. The purpose of this research is to provide a quantitative definition of the impact of behavior on energy consumption in three residential, institutional, and educational occupancies in one apartment through survey and simulation. In this research, by allocating three different occupancies to one building in Qom, the cooling and heating loads for each occupant have been compared in a one-year interval. First, the building modeling was carried out in Ecotet software and put in Energyplus software. Then by assuming a single building and describing three different patterns of using the space in Energyplus, the outcomes were compared. The results show that the reduction or increase in energy consumption in each occupancy was influenced by the number of users and the patterns of their activities or clothing. Reducing the duration of presence or changing the work hours in warm seasons of the year can significantly help reduce energy consumption in educational and institutional occupancies in hot and dry climates. The residential users' economic motives can be one of the reasons for reduced energy consumption in residential occupancies, compared to institutional occupancies.
Ashkan Khatibi, Pari Alavi,
Volume 34, Issue 1 (1-2024)
Abstract
In contemporary contexts, optimizing energy consumption and ensuring thermal comfort for occupants in hot and arid climates necessitates prioritizing the shielding of buildings from solar radiation and heat. This study employed simulation techniques utilizing Rhino software, Grasshopper plugin, and Climate Studio plugin to determine the most suitable facade design in terms of energy efficiency, considering the thermal performance of office building facades in Tehran. The investigation evaluated the thermal performance of four facade systems: three variations of double-skin facade (Buffer system, Extract-air system, Twin-face system), and a kinetic facade. Detailed calculations were conducted for heating, cooling, and electrical energy consumption, with results compared using monthly and annual charts. Simulation outcomes indicate that, under constant conditions, the kinetic facade exhibits superior energy efficiency by dynamically adjusting its components, including rotation direction and opening/closing mechanisms, resulting in a 42.3% reduction in energy consumption compared to conventional double-skin facades. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that annual energy consumption, encompassing cooling, heating, and electric lighting, is lower on the southern facade than on the northern facade. Notably, the kinetic facade, with its adaptable design, demonstrates significant performance in energy reduction compared to other facade types, establishing it as the preferred option in this study. Employing intelligent self-adaptive systems, a portion of the facade is configured as a canopy, effectively mitigating building cooling and heating loads by regulating solar radiation, thus enhancing environmental comfort for occupants while minimizing energy loss.